


The Mage

by HQuinn



Series: Warden Arianna [8]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-14
Updated: 2015-10-14
Packaged: 2018-04-26 10:11:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5000779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HQuinn/pseuds/HQuinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ari explains her budding feelings for Anders</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mage

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by a comment from Flaminea on "Finding Life Again"
> 
> Thanks so much to Needy Skirt for the Beta Read
> 
> Takes place during Chapter 29 of "Finding Life Again" after the kiss in the Tavern.

Ari sat along the bench in the garden of Skyhold watching the children playing, hearing their laughter fill the air. The sun seemed brighter than usual, the scent of the flowers in the air more aromatic than any other time. The laughter of the children seemed lighter, and happier.

 

She had been kissed last night. Anders had finally made a move, and she felt a blush come to her cheeks as she remembered the kiss. It had started softly, but became something more, as he had found his confidence. It had actually been their second kiss, but the first one had been when he had feared death was coming. Somehow this second one, when there was no threat of death hovering overhead, no motivation but pure desire, somehow that made the second kiss take on more meaning than the first. She was lost in a haze of memory, that she failed to notice a movement out of the corner of her eye. She jumped slightly as the Commander of the Inquisition sat next to her. How does someone move so quietly in that heavy armor, she wondered to herself.

 

Cullen chuckled, "I'm sorry to have startled you. Lost in thought?"

 

"Maker Cullen, you should be a rogue for how stealhy you can be," she laughed. They both turned their head towards the sound of Eleanor crying out in a squeal of excitement. "She's gotten so big while I was gone." Ari sighed, leaning against her friend. "Thanks for being there for her. She adores you, you know."

 

"The feeling is mutual, and it was no bother. She's growing into quite the young lady. She has your sense for diplomacy and her father's sense of mischief. I also fear she may have picked up the King's love of cheese." he playfully pushed her with his arm.

 

Ari laughed, "Well, three years in Ali's care, I guess I should have known something would rub off."

 

"Speaking of mischief," Cullen's voice remained light but slightly more serious as he turned more to face Arianna, "I hear someone was kissing a certain mage in the tavern last night."

 

Ari could feel her cheeks start to blush again as she recalled the kiss once more. She turned towards Cullen, avoiding his eyes, unsure of what she'd see there. "Did you come to let me know you dissapprove?"

 

Cullen took his friend's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "No, Ari. You're an adult, perfectly capable of making her own mind. Just... are you sure about him? I mean, not a week ago he was a prisioner here."

 

 

Ari sighed and leaned her head down along Cullen's arm, feeling more relaxed knowing there wasn't a lecture coming. "I know Cullen. But I've also known Anders a long time. He's a good man, you've even said it before yourself. And I know, what he did at Kirkwall was horrific. But I'm not sure that was really him. I suspect Justice was at the reigns then, and Hawke said she suspects the same. But when I look at him, I don't see the man that blew up the Chantry. I see someone who protected me during the Blight. A friend who kept me laughing when I was heartbroken about Zevran being gone so long while I was pregnant. I see the good man that starved himself so that the people in Darktown would not go without. That spent hours running himself to exhaustion to make sure those that needed the healing the most got it."

 

"Those are all good qualities," Cullen agreed, "But that doesn't necesarrily lead to kissing. I care about you, you've been lost for so long. I just want to know that you're not setting yourself up for a fall. That this is really about him, and not just that you're lonely."

 

Had it been anyone else saying this to her, Ari probably would have gone off on them. But this wasn't anyone. This was Cullen, the one person she was closer to than even King Alistair. He knew all her hidden demons, and she knew all his. Through over 10 years they had shared everything about eachother in their letters and visits. Fears that each had never shared with another soul they had discussed, simply because they knew the other had been through their own horrors and understood when no one else could. In another life, perhaps they might have even been soulmates, but neither had even the smallest of romantic feelings towards the other. They were, simply put, the closest friends either could have ever had. It was because of this closeness, each knew the other's weakness, and both felt safe exposing those weaknesses because of the safety they felt between them.

 

Ari squeezed Cullen's hand again. "It's not. I won't lie, I have been lonely. I won't pretend there weren't men I met along my travels that were simply a way to fill that void. To maybe forget for a time that Zev was really gone. But this isn't that. This is different. Around him, I feel... different. I feel, I don't know, real again. Does that make any sense?" She looked at him to see if he understood at all.

 

Cullen gave her a warm smile and nodded. "It does, I guess that's what I'd say about how I feel about Evelyn."

 

Ari smiled, happy for him to finally find the courage to make a move with the Inquisitor. "I don't know, it's just, when I'm with Anders, I don't think about the Calling, or how much I've lost these last few years, or any of that pain. I just feel light, and happy. He looks at me like I'm the most precious thing in Thedas, and it's been a long time since anyone looked at me like that. When I'm with him, I find myself not looking back at what is gone from my past, but instead, looking ahead to what lies in the future. For me, and Eleanor, and sometimes I can see him there too. And I'd be lying if I said that didn't scare me. I mean it's only been one kiss, ok two. But I don't even know how he really feels about me. The man I knew years ago was all about looking for fun and nothing serious. But, well right now, I think that's ok too. It's nice to just feel happy for a change, and not so broken. Then I look in his eyes, and there's a warmth there, and I wonder if maybe he actually does feel the same."

 

Cullen leaned his head on hers and nodded. "Well then, if he makes you feel all that, how can I possibly disapprove. I just hope he's worthy of your heart."

 

"I hope so too, Cullen," she sighed wishfully while watching Eleanor dance around in circles with another little girl, loving how her daughter could just be a child here, without any of the real worries and dangers of the world touching her.

 


End file.
